What's Your Heritage?

2 Timothy 1:1–14 (NRSV)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thanksgiving and Encouragement

3 I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. 6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

8 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, 12 and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. 13 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Introduction: Paul’s Changing Situation

The Apostle Paul (or a close follower) writes to Timothy in two letters which bear the young minister’s name. For some time, Paul was imprisoned for proclaiming his faith. He was first arrested in Jerusalem, when some Jews complained about the trouble Paul was causing in synagogues. They got a Roman official’s attention, and Paul was placed under what today we would call “house arrest.” Today we think of those who are forced to wear an ankle bracelet that notifies law enforcement if they leave their home without permission.

Paul’s Changing Situation

During this time, Paul is free to have visitors like Timothy. The guard is courteous and respectful of Paul, who lives in a polite, civil situation. Paul is not in a prison cell, and he is not shackled in chains. In his first correspondence with Timothy Paul writes a letter teaching this young disciple about order in the church.

But by the time of Paul’s second letter, his situation has changed dramatically. In about 61 A.D. Paul is sent to Rome, and put in a prison, locked in a dark, dirty dungeon. Paul is behind bars, and bound in chains, treated very much like a dangerous criminal.

Paul is on the equivalent of Death Row, and he knows his ultimate fate. He will be executed by the Romans, and Paul knows that time may come soon.

Most important, Paul no longer has the comfort and encouragement of visitors. Many who claimed to me his friends no longer come, fearing the stigma of being around one who has been branded a criminal by the empire. So in the dark lonely solitude of that prison, Paul thinks about the disciples he has led to faith in Christ.

Above all others, Paul thinks of young Timothy, who Paul has mentored and taken with him on missionary journeys. At the outset of this second letter, Paul remembers the great heritage of faith Timothy has been born and raised in. He writes about what he calls “the lively faith” of Timothy’s grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice. It is clear in what Paul writes that these two women have had a strong impact on Timothy. And then, at the end of verse 5, Paul adds:

“I am confident this faith lives in you also.”

I. Do We Inherit faith?

Throughout the protestant world from Martin Luther onward, we have been warned that we do not and cannot inherit that faith of our parents or grandparents. There is a statement that Methodist leader John Wesley did not claim as his own, but he made it often. Wesley said, “God has no grandchildren, only children.”

Each person in each generation must claim faith in Christ for themselves. You can pass it along like a savings account to you children, nor can they draw on your faith as if it were a spiritual bank account.

In all church membership classes, I ask people to share where and how their spiritual journey began and tell where God has taken them along life’s way. Here in Sun City, most of the people are retired and so their spiritual journey is often a long one, with moves, twists and turns along the way.

I get a variety of answers, the most frequent beginning with, “I was raised in a Christian home.” Some talk about the influence of their parents and/or grandparents. Some stop right there, as if to say, “I inherited the faith of my family.”

On the surface here in 2 Timothy, it looks like Paul is saying to Timothy “You have inherited the faith of your grandmother and mother.” But look closely at verse 5. Paul first speaks of Timothy’s own faith, then of his family’s faith.

Paul says, “I am reminded of the sincerity of your faith.” He means Timothy’s faith.

After speaking of Lois and Eunice’s vibrant faith, Paul then turns back to Timothy and says, “I am confident [this faith] lives in you also.”

Commentator Anthony Hanson notes that Timothy was the product of a mixed marriage. Eunice, who was a Jewish women converted Christianity, married a Greek. Hanson goes on to suggest that she was a widow before she followed Christ. Eunice would have been excommunicated from her Jewish family for marrying a Greek in the first place. We can safely conclude Timothy’s father possessed no faith in Jesus or the God of Israel. [i]

All kinds of kids grow up in families like this; let me paint a picture of this kind of dad today. Timothy’s dad never sets foot in church. He spends every day of worship watching whatever sport is on TV, and he always finds a sport to watch.

The conversations I have had with these guys are pretty much the same. My favorite is when they say things like, “My wife does all the praying for us” or “she attends church for both of us.”

They have passed along the issue of faith to wives and think they will be a proxy for them in heaven. No, we cannot inherit our faith from family members. No, we cannot marry a person of faith and expect them to live it out for us.

II. Renewal: Fan the Flame

In verse 6, Paul gets down to another essential in the life of faith. In churches and synagogues of any denomination, wise members know that the pastor, priest or rabbi must have times of renewal with God.

Notice what Paul tells young Timothy in 2 Timothy 6

“That is why I tell you to stir into flame the gift of God that is within you…”

Only the “Christmas & Easter Christians” are unaware of the changes that come when we do not “stir the gift of God within.” They just come for a show twice a year, and as long as we provide it, they will be back again for the next one.

I have a colorful story from an interesting friend who lived in the San Fernando Valley and attended the Methodist church in Chatsworth. Bob, who was Catholic by background, married Becky, who was a Methodist raised in Rockford, Illinois. Each summer they would travel back to Illinois of visit Becky’s family, and they would always attend the Methodist church her family belonged to. One summer, Bob returned and said, “Rex, I am convinced the minister in Rockford must have only two sermons. Every time we go back and attend his church, he either preaches on his trip to Israel, or gives a sermon about his mother.”

Members of churches, often the most observant ones, notice patterns in our leadership. Hopefully, we have more than two sermons, but without knowing it, we often ride our favorite “hobby horse” – repeat an idea over and over. Another dedicated layman in another church (also named Bob) stopped me after church one day, and pointed out a distracting habit I had while delivering the sermon. This Bob said, “Rex did you know you have a habit of taking off and putting on your glasses during your sermon? I counted, and you did it 23 times today.”

Paul is calling for something deeper than correcting a distracting habit. But I learned that Bob was a genuinely concerned and supportive man who wanted me to succeed in my ministry.

When Paul calls upon young Timothy to “stir into flame the gift of God within” he was challenging Timothy to seek God’s guidance, to set aside time alone with the Lord, to let the Holy Spirit take Timothy deeper, so that he could become a more faithful and fruitful servant of God.

· One of the greatest blessings we experience as pastors is to watch God at work in the lives of people in our churches.

Any sign of spiritual growth, any molding of the character and personality the become more like Christ, is a blessing we hope and pray for. If we as ministers will listen and learn, we discover that the people who love and support us the most are praying that signs of spiritual growth will continue to happen in their pastor, and not just in the congregation.

III. What Spiritual Heritage Looks Like

There are several more important messages from Paul to Timothy in this passage from 2 Timothy 1. However, I am going to close this message with a story about the memorial services of two men that I conducted in recent months.

If somebody asked me what our spiritual heritage looks like, I would tell them about how these two men were remembered. In the midst of lingering issues with Covid, they were two of the largest, most energetic services I have seen in recent years. Here are the common traits and lessons:

1) Both men lived long and very fruitful lives; they were successful in their vocations, and their lives deeply touched people around them – all of their family, many of their friends, people in their church.

2) Their families consider them to be a gift from God. Their convictions, the lessons they taught, the values they lived by, the example they set, all had profound impact on their families. They were blessed to have husbands, fathers, grandfathers like them, and these families clearly knew it.

3) Each had a connection to God that radiated outward to touch and challenge lives around them. Walter expressed it in his unique way, and Charlie expressed it in his way.

4) Their families and friends came away determined to savor, guard and protect what they enjoyed in their lives, and to live out what they loved and admired. Like Paul telling Timothy to guard the good treasure entrusted to us.

Rex S. Wignall, Faith Lutheran Church, October 2, 2022

[i]Anthony Tyrrell Hanson, “The Character of a Christian Minister” in The Pastoral Epistles. The Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible (London, England: Cambridge University Press, 1966) p. 78